Yes, Alstervergnügen is happening right now, but without me, I think last Tuesday it was more enjoyable on the frozen Alster. Instead I spent the afternoon with some of my favourite forms of procrastination: baking. And in best pre-Valentine-mood I whipped up this:

Guess what it was to become?

Now it’s obvious. Fancy French!

Lovely macarons for coffee. Because every day should be Valentine’s Day. I used this failproof recipe by Letizia (if three successful tries count as failproof), added some red food colour ♡ and filled the shells with whipped cranberry-cream instead of ganache. Hhmmmh!

This morning we heard longingly awaited news on the radio: the Alster is frozen and open to the public (even though at your own risk). It’s an event that doesn’t happen every year, only in very cold winters the ice on the Alster is thick enough, because it only looks like a lake, it really is a dammed river. This late afternoon between work and dark we went onto the ice, like many other Hamburgers, too. But because it’s so vast and still not officially made into a fair with concession stands and blasting music (I expect that for the weekend), it didn’t feel crowded but rather contemplative.